Marco Rubio Comments
(Time allowed his eight comments)
From the ninth debate in South Carolina, Saturday
13, 2016, with Republican candidates.
DICKERSON:
Senator Rubio, you're a lawyer. Quickly, can you address the issue of whether
the Constitution tells us who has the power to appoint Supreme Court justices?
And
then, also, the Senate Republicans last year floated an idea of removing the
filibuster for Senate -- excuse me, for Supreme Court nominations. You seemed
open to that. What's your feeling on that now?
RUBIO: Well, let me first
talk about Justice Scalia. His loss is tremendous and obviously our hearts and
prayers go out to his family. He will go down as one of the great justices in
the history of this republic.
You
talk about someone who defended consistently the original meaning of the
Constitution, who understood that the Constitution was not there to be
interpreted based on the fads of the moment, but it was there to be interpreted
according to its original meaning.
Justice
Scalia understood that better than anyone in the history of this republic. His
dissent, for example, on the independent counsel case is a brilliant piece of
jurist work. And, of course, his dissent on Obergefell as well.
Number
two, I do not believe the president should appoint someone. And it's not
unprecedented. In fact, it has been over 80 years since a lame duck
president has appointed a Supreme Court justice.
And
it remind us of this, how important this election is. Someone on this stage will get to choose the balance of the Supreme
Court, and it will begin by filling this vacancy that's there now.
And
we need to put people on the bench that understand that the Constitution is not
a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally
meant.
DICKERSON:
Quickly, though on this question...
(APPLAUSE)
DICKERSON:
Very quickly, Senator, on this specific question, though. You were once in
favor of dropping the threshold...
(CROSSTALK)
RUBIO: That's not accurate.
DICKERSON:
... majority -- you were never in favor of that?
RUBIO: No, I've never --
there has been, for example, today, according to the changes Harry Reid made, appellate judges can now be appointed by a
simple majority, but not Supreme Court justices.
And
I think today you see the wisdom of why we don't that want to change. Because
if that were the case and we were not in charge of the Senate, Harry Reid and Barack Obama would ram down
our throat a liberal justice, like the ones Barack Obama has imposed on us
already.
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DICKERSON:
Senator Rubio -- just 30 seconds on this question, Senator Rubio. Are those the
questions you would ask? [Terrorism
and ISIS and national security]
RUBIO: No. I think there
are three major threats that you want to immediately get on top of. No. 1 is,
what are we doing in the Asia-Pacific
region, where both North Korea and China pose threats to the national
security of the United States.
No.
2 is, what are we doing in the Middle
East with the combination of the Sunni-Shia conflict driven by the Shia
arc that Iran is now trying to establish in the Middle East, also the growing
threat of ISIS.
And
the third is rebuilding and reinvigorating NATO
in the European theater, particularly in Central Europe and in Eastern
Europe, where Vladimir Putin is now threatening the territory of multiple
countries, already controls 20 percent of Georgia and a significant percentage
of Ukraine.
(APPLAUSE) DICKERSON: Let me ask you a
follow-up, a full, proper question, then.
Violent extremists
are operating or active in 40 countries. Some 80 countries are in different
degrees of instability. And so, that's just the crises overseas. Barack Obama
walked into an economic collapse when he came into office. We face international health crises, from
Ebola to Zika.
So,
there is a lot of opportunity for crisis, as you have talked about. What would
you point to in your past to show voters that you've been in a crisis and that
you've been tested when that inevitable crisis comes when you're president?
RUBIO: Well, let me tell
you what has happened a couple of years ago. One of the hardest decisions
you'll ever make in Congress is when you are asked by the president to
authorize the use of force in a conflict, because you are now putting your
name, on behalf of the people of your state, behind a military action, where
Americans in uniform could lose their life.
So,
in 2014, Barack Obama said he would not take military action against Assad
unless it was authorized by the Senate, beginning on the Committee of
Foreign Relations, where I am one of
its members.
RUBIO: And it was hard
because you looked at the pictures. I saw the same images people saw. I'm the
father of children. I saw the images of these little children -- been gassed
and poisoned by their own leaders and we were angry. Something had to happen,
and there was the sense that we needed to seek retribution.
And
then I looked at Barack Obama's plan. Barack Obama's plan, which John Kerry
later described as unbelievably small, and I concluded that that attack would
not only not help the situation, it would make it actually worse. It would
allow Assad to stand up to the United States of America, survive a strike, stay
in power and actually strengthen his grip.
So
it was a difficult decision to make and when we only had a few days to look at
and make a decision on it and I voted against Barack Obama's plan to use force,
and it was the right decision.
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RUBIO: I just want to say,
at least on behalf of me and my family, I
thank God all the time it was George W. Bush in the White House on 9/11 and not
Al Gore.
(APPLAUSE)
And
you can -- I think you can look back in hindsight and say a couple of things,
but he kept us safe. And not only did he keep us safe, but no matter
what you want to say about weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was in
violation of U.N. resolutions, in open violation, and the world wouldn't do
anything about it, and George W. Bush
enforced what the international community refused to do.
And
again, he kept us safe, and I am forever grateful to what he did for this
country.
(APPLAUSE) …
RUBIO:
The World Trade Center came down because Bill Clinton didn't kill Osama bin
Laden when he had the chance to kill him.
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STRASSEL:
OK, I have a question, a related tax question.
Senator
Rubio, you have the highest tax rate of anyone up on the stage in terms of the
top tax rates, 35 percent. Some economists say, "it would limit its
potential to boost economic growth." You do that, so that you will have
more revenue to pay for a tripling of the Child Tax Credit.
Normally,
it's liberals who like to use the tax code to insert social policy. Why should
conservatives who want to tax adopt the other side's approach?
RUBIO: Well, because I'm
influencing social policy, this is their
money. This is the money of parents. You don't earn the tax credit unless
you're working. That's your money, it doesn't belong to government.
Here's
what I don't understand, if a business takes their money and they invest in the
piece of the equipment, they get to write to off their taxes. But if a parent
takes money that they have earned to work and invests in their children, they
don't? This makes no sense.
Parenting is the most
important job any of us will ever have. Family formation is the most important
thing in society. So what my tax plan does, is it does create - especially for
working families, an additional Child Tax Credit. So that parents who are
working get to keep more of their own money, not the government's money to
invest in their children to go to school, to go a private school, to buy a new
back pack.
Let me tell you, if
you're a parent that's struggling, then you know that fifty dollars a month is
the difference between a new pair of shoes this month or not getting a new pair
of shoes for your kids. I'm going to have a tax plan that is pro-family because
the family is the most important institution in society. You cannot have a
strong country without strong families.
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GARRETT:
Senator Rubio... (APPLAUSE)
For
the purposes of the lines -- lines you would draw legislatively as a president
on immigration reform, define amnesty.
RUBIO: Well, first of all,
I think amnesty is the forgiveness of a wrongdoing without consequence and
that -- I've never supported that. I do not support that. I think
there has to be consequences for violating our immigration laws. What I think
is clear about this issue to begin with is we're not going to be able to make
progress on illegal immigration until first, illegal immigration is brought
under control.
You
go back to 1986 when they legalized
three million people and they promised to secure the border. It didn't
happen, and as a result, people have lost trust in the federal government. It
is now clear that the only way to make progress on immigration is not just to pass a law that enforces the law, but
actually prove to people that it's
working.
They
want to see the wall built. They
want to see the additional border agents. They want to see e-verify.
They want to see an entry- exit tracking system. Forty percent of the
people in this country illegally are entering legally and over-staying visas.
And only after all of that is in place, then we'll see what the American people
are willing to support on this issue.
I
think the American people will be very reasonable, but responsible, about how
you handle someone who has been here a long time, who can pass a background
check, who pays a fine and starts paying taxes and all they want is a work
permit. But you can't do any of that
until you prove to people that illegal immigration is under control once and
for all.
(APPLAUSE)
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[[ Dust up with Ted Cruz over who said and
supported what w/Amnesty. ]]
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DICKERSON:
We're going to switch here to Senator Marco Rubio.
RUBIO: The issue of
poverty is critical, because for me, poverty is the -- is -- is free enterprise
not reaching people. Today, we have antipoverty programs that don't cure poverty. We don't
cure poverty in America. Our anti-poverty programs have become, in some
instances, a way of life, a lifestyle.
Now,
we do need anti-poverty programs, you can't have free enterprise programs without them, but not as a way of life. And so I have a very specific proposal on
this and I don't -- in 60 seconds, I can't describe it all, but it basically turns the program over to states.
It allows states to design innovative programs that cure poverty,
because I think Nikki Haley will do a better job curing poverty than
Barack Obama.
(APPLAUSE)
DICKERSON:
Senator, I wanted to ask you, just going back to immigration, in the last
debate, you listed your series of accomplishments in the Senate. One thing you
left off was -- was immigration reform. Is it the case that in your list of
accomplishments you can't mention that?
RUBIO: Well, no. It's not
the case. It didn't pass and we haven't solved immigration in this country.
It's still a problem. It is worse
today than it was three years ago, which is worse than it was five
years ago. And it has to be confronted and solved.
But
the only way forward on this issue -- you asked a question about flexibility.
Let me tell you about that. One of the things that you need in leadership is
the ability to understand that to get things done, you must figure out the way
to get it done. You will not pass comprehensive immigration reform. People
do not trust the federal government.
They
want to see the law being enforced.
They want to see illegal immigration
come under control. They want to see that
wall. They want to see e-verify.
They want to see all of these things working and then they will have a
conversation with you about what do you do with people that have been here a
long time that are otherwise, you know, not criminals. But they're not going to do it until you first enforce the law. (APPLAUSE)
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DICKERSON:
No president can know everything, right? So a smart leader knows how to ask
questions. So if you could talk to any previous president, what's the smart
question you would ask about that job that you would want to know?
RUBIO: Well, I think one
of the presidents -- well, the president I grew up under was Ronald Reagan. And
Reagan had a vision for America's future.
And if you think about what Ronald
Reagan inherited, it's not unlike what the next president is going to inherit.
This is the worst
president we've had in 35 years, 35 years back would have made it
Jimmy Carter. That's what Ronald Reagan inherited. And I think the
question you would ask is how did you inspire again the American people to
believe in the future?
How
did you -- what did it take to ensure that the American people, despite all of
the difficulties of the time -- you know, you look back at that time, the
American military was in decline. Our standing in the world was in
decline. We had hostages being held in Iran. Our economy was
in bad shape.
The
American people were scared about the future. They were scared about what kind
of country their children were going to live in and inherit. And yet
somehow Ronald Reagan was able to
instill in our nation and in our people a sense of optimism.
And
he turned America around because of that vision
and ultimately because of that leadership.
I wish Ronald Reagan was still around. This
country needs someone just like that.
And if our next
president is even half the president Ronald Reagan was, America is going to be
greater than it has ever been.
(APPLAUSE)
DICKERSON:
All right. That's going to have to be it there, Senator Rubio. We have got to
go to a break. We will be right back with the CBS News Republican Debate in
Greenville, South Carolina.
(COMMERCIAL
BREAK)
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CLOSING:
And now, Marco Rubio.
RUBIO: Thank you and thank
you for watching tonight.
This is a difficult time in our country. Our
economy's flat, it's not creating the jobs it once did and people struggle
living paycheck to paycheck. Our culture's in trouble. Wrong is considered
right and right is considered wrong.
All the things that once held our families
together are now under constant assault. And around the world, America's
reputation is in decline. Our allies don't trust us, our adversaries don't fear
us, Iran captures our sailors and parades them before the world on video.
These are difficult times but 2016 can be a turning point. That's why
I'm running for president and that's why I'm here today to ask you for your
vote. If you elect me president, we are going to re- embrace free enterprise so
that everyone can go as far as their talent and their work will take them.
We are going to be a country that says that, "life begins at conception and life
is worthy of the protection of our laws." We're going to be a
country that says. "that marriage
is between one man and one woman." We are going to be a country
that says, "the constitution and
the rights that it talks about do not come from our president, they come from
our creator." We are going to be loyal to our allies like Israel, not enemies like Iran. And we will
rebuild the U.S. military so no one will there test it.
Vote for me. I will unify this party. I will grow it. We will win this election and
we will make the 21st century a new American century.
(APPLAUSE)
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